Kimby Has a Secret
by blaizecallsmebuttface
Summary: Kimby's father runs the Aberdale History Museum and upon hearing that he'll need a receptionist, she eagerly steps forward to work. It was nothing she couldn't handle. However, she didn't sign up for meeting Haru-some Karate Kid wannabe that just moved into town. Kimby's summer job just might pay off in more ways than one. High School AU requested by Allenfairytale for his OC Haru.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone! Here I am with another fanfiction. This one was specifically requested by Allenfairytail, who has written a Clarence fic titled** _ **Girls Only**_ **. He wanted me to dedicate a fanfiction for his OC Haru and Kimby. So here I am delivering. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

It was a sunny Tuesday morning when Kimby followed her father up the steps of his pride and joy-the Aberdale History Museum. He was obsessed with the place, always finding an excuse to wander the exhibits and adjusts plaques and what not. Kimby knew this museum like the back of her hand, just like her father did. If you asked her mother, she would tell you that Kimby practically took her first steps in here. She would also, begrudgingly, mention Kimby's uncanny ability to get lost in the corridors each time she went exploring as a child. It was such a popular occurrence that they had someone from the museum chaperone her. But, all of her adventures paid off because now she knew everything there was to know about the building. She could tell you how many total fire extinguishers there were, how many pull alarms, could recite verbatim the plaque beside the display of her favorite painting.

"Alright honey, are you ready?"

"Yeah, come on. It's not like I haven't been here before."

"I know that, but the experience is completely different now that you work here."

Kimby smiled at how dorky her father sounded. "Okay," she said and focused on his hands as he unlocked the large wooden doors that marked the entrance.

Kimby watched the heavy doors swing open as her dad pushed past them. She took a deep breath, smelling the familiar aroma of her second home. She took in the fluorescent lights as they created a reflection in the polished tile below her feet. And there, in front of everything was the reception desk. She remembered not being able to see beyond the counter, but now that she was older she realized how small it was.

"Okay, so this is where you'll be working. Answering phones, and more importantly, questions from our guests."

"'Where's the bathroom?', 'Are all of your pieces donated?'" Kimby listed off a few of the questions she thought would be most popular.

"And you'll be responsible for informing everyone about our new attraction. We finally got enough letters for our World War II exhibit. There is a brand new case and plaques dedicated to the owners of the donated letters," Kimby's father all but sang.

Kimby nodded, her eyes scanning over the museum like they had before. "Yeah, I got it."

"Are you sure?" Her father looked at her with the tell-tale signs of doubt written on his aged face. "I'm afraid that it's too soon. Suzanne went on maternity leave so fast that she didn't have enough time to train you."

She shrugged. "Well, babies come when they want. No stopping it," Kimby reminded him.

"True." He paused. "But if you have any questions, you know where my office is."

"Alright, gotcha." And with that, Kimby's father was walking past the reception desk and into the hall behind her.

Now that he was gone, Kimby sat down in the office chair that Suzanne had occupied for the last three years. She was a very pretty woman with one heck of a smile on her. Kimby remembered her first week at the museum. She directed her father's calls wrong and spilled coffee all over some important papers. Kimby was sure she would quit after that but she came back the next week with a tablet and a lidded coffee cup. Then Kimby struck up a conversation with her. It was her first time actually making an adult friend-aside from the people her mother and father introduced to her out of habit rather than pleasure.

Suzanne wore the loudest clothing, vibrant colors that really livened up the museum. Her favorite outfits included cheetah prints and abstract shapes with the weirdest shades and patterns. Her hairstyle had a habit of changing with little to no warning. One day she'd walk in with an untamed mass-which really fit her personality actually, and the next she'd have it pulled back into dreadlocks. On the day that she started working, Kimby distinctly remembered Suzanne acknowledging her as she stood behind her father, rubbing her hair as she always did when she got even the smallest bit nervous.

"An' who's this li'l beauty?" Suzanne asked with a wide smile.

Kimby remembered her father looking down at her.

"My daughter Kimby. She comes around here after school, so don't mind her."

"'t's nice to meet you, Kimby," Suzanne stretched out her hand and just like that, their acquaintanceship.

They talked about what was going on with the museum, like new donations and stuff, and whoever either of them had a crush on at that point in time. They were nice to look back on, the conversations Kimby and Suzanne had while they were supposed to be working. Suzanne working on organizing some of the legal work for the museum, Kimby working on homework assignments. Now that Suzanne was off of work for the next three months there was nothing interesting about reception. Except maybe the fact that she was now working the desk. Kimby watched the door of the museum as it stayed closed. She wondered when someone would walk through it, if anyone would. But that was pretty uncharacteristic. There was always someone coming in. In the three years that Suzanne worked here she said that there was not one day there wasn't some foot-traffic. Kimby hoped that the same would happen for her these next three months. Or however long her father let her work. He was going to let her cover the desk until school started. Then if she wanted to cover Suzanne's official replacement's shift, she could.

* * *

It was about three hours into Kimby's shift at reception when her father finally came out of his office.

"Fairing well?" He asked as he brushed off the brown sleeve of his coat.

"Yeah, a bunch of people have showed up today. I'm surprised."

"And you've told them about-," her father began but was cut off.

"Yes, I've told them about the new stuff."

"Alright, well if you have things settled here I'm gonna take a walk around."

And there he went, moving through the lobby and into one of the nearby hallways. Kimby leaned against the reception desk and sighed. She looked towards the door and watched the people move on the street below. She perked up when she saw Chelsea running up the stairs of the museum, trailing behind her was Malessica. Kimby got up from the desk and ran to the two of them before they got through the door.

"Oh my god, it's been so long since I saw you guys," Kimby said throwing her arms around Chelsea. She then pulled Malessica into the museum to also give her a huge hug.

Chelsea awkwardly shifted away from Kimby, not being too interested in hugs. Malessica, however, squealed as Kimby embraced her-her glasses bouncing down her nose as she squeezed Kimby back.

"It's only been like, two weeks, geez," Chelsea complained with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, well I've missed you, you jerk," Kimby replied, punching Chelsea's arm.

"And we've missed you," Malessica said. "She's just acting tough."

Chelsea kept her mouth shut, knowing that she'd been caught. Kimby leaned against the front of the reception desk.

"So where's Suzanne?" Chelsea asked putting her hand on her hip.

"Out on maternity leave. I'm covering the desk until school starts."

Malessica readjusted her short-shorts as they rode up on her thighs. "Really? Is your dad paying you?"

"He is, but it's basically an allowance increase rather than a salary," she explained. "What have you two been up to?"

Malessica spoke up. "Well, my family and I drove down to the beach a few days ago. I got the worst sun burn of my life." She touched her arm unconsciously, no doubt remembering the pain. "It's better now though."

Chelsea laughed. "I've been staying out of the sun, unlike this one." She regarded Malessica. "The internet is my only solace."

Kimby nodded. "Yeah, I can't wait until my first day off. I'm gonna get my first ice cream cone of the summer."

"Why don't we go together?"

"Sure, I have Mondays and Sundays off."

"That's so far away," Malessica sagged where she stood.

"Yeah, I'll text you when I want to go so keep your schedule free on Sunday." Then the three of them stood around for a moment. "Oh wait, why did you guys come here anyway?"

Chelsea gasped. "That's right; we came to dish out the latest gossip."

Malessica laughed. "Yeah, and we knew you'd be here because you have no life."

"True, so what's the rumor? Our favorite bromance, Jeff and Sumo, turned into a flowery romance? Or did Belson finally go broke?"

"No," Chelsea grinned, "to both of those things."

Malessica finally spoke up. "We heard that there's going to be a karate dojo opening a few blocks from here."

Kimby raised an eyebrow. "And what does this have to do with anything?"

"Apparently the owner has a _really_ cute teenage relative." Chelsea raised her eye brows suggestively.

Kimby gave her a weird look before laughing. "What is with that face, have you finally given up on Sumo?"

"As if she could," Malessica sniggered. "My mom was handing the new owner the keys while Chelsea and I were waiting to be dropped off at the store."

"So what, this guy is gonna be in school with us or something?"

"That's what we think. Malessica's mom doesn't really press her clients for information so we only have that stuff to go on."

"Well a new face is always refreshing, I guess."

"Yeah," Malessica added.

Then the three of them drifted into an awkward silence.

Then Malessica gave out an exasperated sigh. "I seriously can't believe how hot he was. I'm like, angry."

"There is no way he's _that_ cute." Kimby raised an eye brow.

Chelsea shook her head. "Oh no, honey. Oh no. She is right to be mad. That boy could get men to do a double take."

The three of them laughed -hard.

"Okay, I gotta see this boy."

"We'll probably run into him eventually. It's not like he can hide that hot bod." Malessica shook her head.

* * *

 **And that was the first chapter of Kimby Has a Secret! Please feel free to check out** _ **Girls Only**_ **by Allenfairytail, it's definitely something to look into. I guess I'll hook you guys up with an update soon. Who knows? Stay safe. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, I am back again for another update. Please enjoy the second chapter of Kimby Has a Secret.**

* * *

Kimby walked out onto the patio that was located in her back yard. She had been searching for her mom for what felt like eons, just to tell her that she was going out. Kimby swore that she pulled disappearing acts like this just to make her daughter miserable. Kimby had seen her, like, ten minutes ago when she was picking out an outfit for today. She'd asked her mother what shirt would go best with her teal daisy-dukes. It's not like she hallucinated their conversation about how hot it was going to be today. Her mother did in fact exist. She was just hiding. Again. Kimby walked past the wrought iron patio furniture that her mother had bought only two years before. She traced her hand along the top of the black back of the chair, feeling its crumbly, worn texture.

She sighed. Maybe it was best to just leave a note. She wouldn't have to find her mother or ask for permission. Though it's not like she wasn't going to go if she didn't receive it. And it wasn't like her mother was going to deny her time with her friends. There was always a first for everything though, so assuming a "yes" from her would just be asinine.

"Mom? You out here," Kimby called as she walked past the glass topped table on the deck. She stepped down the short staircase and onto the lawn. It was covered in bright green grass that tickled her toes despite her wearing her favorite wedge sandals.

"Yes?" Her mother answered from behind a bush that just barely covered her face. She set the hedge trimmers down on the grass and walked into the open. She was covered in the leaves of the bush she was trimming. Her yellow shirt sprinkled with vibrant green shapes. She smiled as she wiped the sweat off her forehead.

"Hey honey," she said finally.

"Hey, I'm going to hang with Chelsea and Malessica today."

"Okay, cool. Going anywhere interesting?" Her mother pulled off her gardening gloves.

"Just to get some ice cream, nothing big."

Kimby's mom walked past her and climbed the stairs of the patio. Kimby followed as they both went inside the door and into the kitchen.

"That sounds great hon," she said. Kimby had a feeling that she wasn't listening.

"Okay then. Well, I'm gonna walk so you don't need to drive me."

Her mother walked to the cupboard above the sink and pulled out a glass. She then filled it.

"Alright. Um, when should I expect you back?" She asked before putting the glass to her lips and taking in a mouthful of water.

Kimby took a minute to respond. She looked at the clock on the stove beside her mother. It flashed the numbers 12:45 in green. "Well, I should be back before three-thirty."

"Okay," her mother responded. "Have you seen your father?"

"Um," Kimby thought again. "No. Is he at the museum or something? He goes there on his off days too, right?"

"Yeah, but with any luck, he's hitting up the grocery store. We're out of milk, oh, and he needs to pick up some ricotta cheese for stuffed shells tonight."

"Do you want me to call his cell phone?"

Her mother chuckled, making her chubby face spread into a smile. "I tried that. He left it on the counter when he left."

Kimby snorted. "Wow, good job dad."

"Yeah, so if you see him?"

"Yeah, I'll tell him," Kimby said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Thanks hon," Kimby's mother called out after her. "And I love that top with those shorts. I was totally right," Kimby could hear her smile.

"Yeah, it looks cute."

Kimby glanced down at the tank top her mom advised her on wearing. It was a dark purple top she'd gotten at the start of the summer, so today would be its debut outside her closet. She tugged it down past the top of her jean shorts, as it had a tendency to ride up. However, it didn't reveal that fact to her in the dressing room at the store so she had to live with it.

And with that, Kimby walked out the front door of her house with a quick 'goodbye' and 'see you later'.

* * *

Kimby finally met up with her friends at the door of the ice cream shop. She looked up from her phone for a second to reveal Chelsea already running up to her. She was dressed in her usual t-shirt and blue Capris combo. Today's t-shirt color was a pale purple that Kimby had to admit was her favorite of Chelsea's t-shirts. Kimby put her phone into her pocket and watched as Malessica walked towards them. Kimby noted the pink headband she had in her hair first, since Malessica was short and all. Next she saw the cute sun dress she was wearing. And what a good time to wear it, considering the heat wave Aberdale was experiencing right now. Kimby was surprised that Chelsea could stand wearing jeans—even if they only came down to her calves. But then again, Chelsea had this insane tolerance for heat which made every member of their friend group jealous. What made them all even angrier is that she never went out and did anything with her gift. Just stayed in her room.

"So, now that we're all here," Kimby said beckoning towards the door of the shop.

"Oh I am so ready," Malessica began. "To kill time, I went in and looked at the menu. They even have a special going on. You can get a sundae on Sunday for half price."

Chelsea laughed. "How early did you get here?"

"About ten minutes."

"Dang, I am so late. Hurry let's go in. This heat is killing me."

The three of them went through the door labeled Welcome and heard a small bell chime. The employee of the shop greeted them happily. They each went up to the mustached man and ordered their ice cream. Malessica got a strawberry sundae, Chelsea got chocolate in a waffle cone, and Kimby got a twist on a regular cone. The three of them left the shop after they got their respective frosty treats.

"So, what's been up with you guys? We didn't really talk last time—or this entire week for that matter." Kimby said. "I am so desperate for girl-time. You have no idea."

"Geez, what has happened to you?" Chelsea said, licking the drips of melting ice cream from the side of her cone.

"I've just been around my mom this entire summer. It hasn't been bad or anything. She's just been on this home improvement kick for a solid three days now. I've had to hang up so many pictures and move so much furniture; I think my arms are low-key dead."

Malessica laughed. "You know, my mom absolutely loves the way your house is decorated." She waved her spoon in front of her, signaling that she wasn't done speaking yet.

They waited until the ice cream was gone from her mouth.

"She asked for a few tips over the phone yesterday, I heard her."

"You've got to be kidding me, next she'll be having you run around with vases and decorative pots."

Chelsea sniggered. "I am so glad my mom isn't in cahoots with your guys'."

Kimby shook her head. "Enjoy it while you can. My mom's probably going to host a barbecue and you can bet your sweet ass your parents are going to be invited."

"Is that why she's beautifying your house?"

"Most definitely, she only watches HGTV when she wants to get shit done." Kimby sighed. "Enough of that, what's been happening?"

"Aside from my mom calling yours about home improvement stuff? Not much. My dad has been taking his motorcycle out a lot recently, you know, since the weather has been so nice."

"Nice," Kimby scoffed at the adjective.

"I already told you about the beach, oh, and my grandma is visiting currently. She's been cooking non-stop so come over if you're hungry."

"What has she been feeding you?"

"I don't know but it's delicious and I want all of it. My pants used to fit."

The three of them laughed at that.

"And you?" Kimby and Malessica asked Chelsea.

Chelsea bit into her waffle cone. "Well this is the first time I've left the house after coming to see you on Tuesday, so there's that."

"You can't be serious." Kimby looked disgusted.

Chelsea laughed. "Well, I'm not joking. Nothing's been going on besides Glary being annoying. He has sprayed me with a water gun more times than I can count."

Malessica laughed as Kimby shook her head.

"Thanks for your support Malessica."

"Anytime," she giggled.

"Is he home from college for the summer?" Kimby asked.

"Yeah, and he's been annoying the ever-living _shit_ out of me." Chelsea gave a disgruntled sigh.

Malessica nodded. "But he is pretty hot though."

"You did _not_ just say that about Glary."

"What? He is cute, isn't he K?" Malessica looked towards Kimby for support.

She looked away and kept herself preoccupied with her ice cream cone.

"Kimby? You like him too!?"

Kimby opened her mouth to defend herself. "Okay, so I may think he's cute. That doesn't mean anything. Like, sure he's hot and all, but I wouldn't date him."

"I totally would," Malessica said putting her spoon in her sundae while she adjusted her glasses.

"That is so gross. I'm telling him."

"Don't you dare, that is in direct violation of the girl-code," Kimby shouted.

"Yeah, what would he even say?"

"I don't know," Chelsea looked off to the side. "Why don't I find out?"

That was when Kimby and Malessica both smacked her arm.

"Speaking of hot guys," Kimby pointed towards a black haired boy leaning up against what looked like a book case from behind.

Chelsea and Malessica followed Kimby's finger all the way across the street, to a rusted sign of King's Dojo, the old Karate dojo that they were talking about before. Then they saw the boy Kimby was addressing. With a sharp gasp the two of them started flailing their hands about despite the ice cream in them.

"Oh my god," Chelsea said with her eyes wide and her mouth open.

"That's the guy," Malessica yelped. "That's the freaking guy we were talking about on Tuesday!"

Kimby gave the two of them weird looks and looked back at the guy she was pointing at. He was now looking in their direction, giving the three of them suspicious looks. Kimby then awkwardly looked away and tried to calm down her friends.

"Hey chill out, he's staring at us." Kimby said trying to hide her face as he continued to look at them.

Chelsea faced Kimby, blocking her from the guy's view, which Kimby was all too happy about. Malessica on the other hand shyly waved in his direction. Now that Kimby wasn't focused on the boy, she saw a moving truck just on the left. Two workers were walking into the dojo, one pulling along a dolly and the other handling a box labeled FRAGILE in big letters. Just then she saw another man exit the dojo, he was young, but not as young as the black haired kid. The two of them looked at each other and then away. After a quick conversation they were approached by an older man, who slung an arm around both of them. He loudly expressed his thanks for their help moving him in, that much was clear. She physically heard every syllable.

"We should walk over and say hi," Malessica suggested.

"Yeah, they should recognize us." Chelsea said.

"There is no way we are going over there. Absolutely no way." Kimby said nervously, some blood infiltrating her cheeks, making her blush.

"Oh my god, look at you. You are so blushing." Chelsea said with a smile.

"Come on, it will only take a second."

Kimby looked petrified as she followed Chelsea and Malessica across the street and towards the dojo. She counted her steps as she walked up to the boisterous men outside on the side walk. Kimby kept her eyes to the ground, not wanting to make eye contact. Not wanting to be noticed in the slightest. She was hardly aware of the fact that she was furiously combing her hand through her hair.

Chelsea was the one that began. "Good afternoon, do you remember the two of us?"

"Weren't you the young ladies with the realtor earlier this week?" The old man asked.

Malessica beamed, her voice seemed to radiate her happiness. "Yeah, she's my mom. So are you going to start up a new dojo? We haven't had one since King's ran out of business."

"I'm plannin' on it," he said happily.

Kimby glanced up, trying to seem friendly. She had to at least try to welcome these people right?

"So what are your names?" Malessica asked.

The old man spoke for the group. "I'm Leon, and these are my nephews, Natsu and Haru." He pointed to the other two guys individually.

So that was the black haired guy's name. Haru.

Chelsea then took over, being the loudest of the group. "I'm Chelsea," she pointed next to her. "This is Malessica," she then pointed behind her. "And this is Kimby."

Kimby waved slightly and tried to smile sincerely. She watched as the three boys waved back. It was weird. It was uncomfortable. At least for Kimby. Everyone else seemed to be in their element. Well, except for Haru, who seemed just as suspicious as when he saw the three of them across the street a mere three minutes ago. And he was right to be.

"So Haru, how old are you?" Chelsea asked.

"Sixteen," Haru responded.

Malessica and Chelsea laughed.

"Oh, you're the same age as Kimby then."

Kimby's cheeks reddened at suddenly being the center of attention.

Malessica interjected. "So does that mean you're going to be a junior this year?"

Haru nodded, sending Chelsea and Malessica into a fit.

"I can't wait to see you around school," Malessica shouted.

Kimby nodded along with Chelsea.

"Well, we've gotta be going," Chelsea said regarding her melting ice cream.

"See you around, ladies," Natsu waved.

The three of them walked away, Kimby faster than any of them. She felt ill, like her stomach was about to burst.

"Kimby wait up," Malessica called after her.

Kimby shook her head.

Chelsea laughed. "You were so nervous, oh my, God."

Kimby finally got to the end of the street and decided that it was time to stop power walking. One, because she didn't want to walk out into the middle of the street. Two, because it was still like, ninety-eight degrees out. She stopped and watched her friends catch up to her.

"Of course I was nervous," Kimby said, catching her breath. "If you hadn't noticed, he was really cute."

"That's what we were trying to tell you," Malessica huffed.

The three of them talked a bit, indulging in some inappropriate hyperbole usage when describing Haru's looks. Chris Evans was brought up several times and without mercy.

"Anyway," Kimby began, taking a break to chew the last bit of her cone. "I have to head down to the museum. My mom told me to cruise by there and see if my dad was around."

"Okay, well I've got to go anyway." Chelsea said with a wide smile.

"Are you going to cruise down by Sumo's neighborhood again?" Kimby asked with a sly smile.

Chelsea rolled her eyes, physically willing herself not to blush. "No, I'm just going to ride my skateboard around town and hey, if I end up in front of Sumo's house…then so be it."

Malessica and Kimby looked at each other with their eyebrows raised quizzically.

"Yeah, okay."

Chelsea pulled a middle finger out of her pocket as she turned to walk down the street.

"Do you wanna tag along?" Kimby asked Malessica.

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere to be."

And with that the two of them crossed the street, on their way to the museum.

To Kimby's surprise (not), she found her father's car parked outside the museum. She walked up the stairs, and looked through the windows of the door. She spotted him right away, just inside the lobby. She knocked on the wood loudly until he finally turned around, a heart attack so close to hitting she saw it on his face. He came rushing towards the door.

"You scared the crap out of me," he said with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, I saw," Kimby said as she stepped inside, Malessica trailing behind her. "So mom says you have to go shopping."

He looked at her, narrowing his eyes with curiosity. "Why didn't she just text me or something?" He involuntarily reached for his cell phone.

Kimby watched him pat his pockets for a bit. "You left your phone on the counter when you left."

He mouthed an "oh" before running a hand through his short brown hair. "Well, I guess we have to go to the store then, huh?"

Kimby realized a bit too late that she got roped into going too. With a sigh she turned to Malessica.

"I guess I'm going shopping. Do you want us to drop you off anywhere?"

"My house isn't too far from here. I'll manage. Plus, I want to swing by the Sunoco down the street."

"Okay," Kimby said with a smile.

* * *

After about an hour, Kimby and her father finally arrived home, carrying two bags of groceries. When someone tells you not to go to the store hungry, they mean it. They only went for two things but they still managed to walk away with enough junk food to kill someone. On the upside though, Kimby got a bunch of skittles and dum-dums—her favorite. She had no idea how she was going to eat them all, but she had them. After a quick, non-serious scolding from her mother, her father apologized for leaving his phone at home. Then the three of them bustled around the kitchen, Kimby's mom boiling some water, Kimby getting out the needed ingredients from the pantry and her dad getting out a casserole dish and strainer.

And that was Kimby's Sunday.

* * *

 **Okie dokie, I guess I'll hit you guys up with another update soon enough. Have a great day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Welp, here I am again for another update. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

Kimby woke up from a dead sleep at six a.m., just like she'd wanted to. However, it was proving difficult for her to keep her eyes open. She debated whether or not it would be bad for her to just close her eyes and drift back to sleep. When her phone's alarm started to bark at her, she decided that yes, it would be bad. She rose from bed, throwing off her covers and placing her bare feet on the floor. Kimby didn't bother looking at herself in the mirror. She knew she looked like garbage in the morning. Her hair always stuck up everywhere and her skin was clammy because of the heat of the night. And she was physically incapable of sleeping without a blanket too, so that only contributed to how much of a slob she looked like. Kimby opened the door of her room with one hand and scratched at the red marks her slumber had brought her with the other. She stumbled her way down the stairs, ready to put some food into her stomach. The Captain Crunch was calling her name.

It was only three weeks into her job at the museum and she was already bored out of her mind. She thought that maybe bringing more effective entertainment would help. Because bringing a book or a magazine clearly wasn't. Her phone couldn't even save her. Everyone that she enjoyed texting was either busy doing whatever or sleeping because summer was not for a day-shift schedule unless you were working. Summer was for sleeping during the heat of the day and coming alive at night—to do everything that you were too busy to do during the school year. Catch up on a TV series? You betcha. Read? Oh yeah.

Kimby realized that now that she was working she couldn't really do any of the things that summer was about. Not that she had anything that she was missing out on. She wasn't that interested in TV aside from Face Off and reading wasn't her strong suit. Too many book reports had destroyed her love of reading for enjoyment a long time ago. Nope, it was only early mornings and hot, boring days for her for the next three months. Her summer job was proving to be tedious, but if a _very_ pregnant Suzanne could manage than so could Kimby.

* * *

An hour later, Kimby was happily walking up the stairs of the museum with her father. They'd gotten there a bit early and that really improved Kimby's mood. It meant she could walk around the museum, take a slow stroll like she had countless times. Once inside with her dad, the two of them went in opposite directions. Her father, into the hall where is office resided, her, into the hall that led to the far corner of the museum. She realized how long it had been since her last walk-through as she ran her hand over the base of a glass container. The feeling of the cold, smooth glass made her chest flutter. Her eyes searched the room for another case and once they found it, there was nothing stopping her from reading the plaque. After walking through the room, Kimby looked at her phone for the time. It was about five minutes until her father opened the doors. She sighed and moved to the front of the museum, where her dad was no doubt expecting her to pop up any second.

When she reached the reception desk her father smiled at her. He had just unlocked the door. He gave her shoulder a quick pat before leaving once more. And yet again she was stranded in the lobby of the museum. It could always be worse.

* * *

It was four hours after opening that Kimby finally got bored of looking at all of the pictures in her beauty mag. She'd exhausted the models and the clothing. Every accessory seemed to hide from her when she'd open to their page. The way things were going this summer she wouldn't be able to touch a magazine for years. She bit her lip, thinking of something that she could entertain herself with tomorrow. Just sitting around with a magazine was going to be the end of her. Maybe she could bring a word find.

As Kimby was deep in thought, she hadn't realized that someone had come in the front doors. When she finally looked up, they were standing in front of the desk, holding up a hand. Kimby picked up her head and put on a service-worthy smile. Then she realized just who was standing in front of her.

Haru.

At first, Kimby was horrified. First of all, she was embarrassed by how her friends acted the first time they met. Second, she was completely ogling him. Kimby stood from the desk, realizing too late that it was unnecessary. She smiled a little too awkwardly as she leaned towards him.

"H-hey Haru," Kimby said, a cold sweat sweeping over her.

Haru didn't seem to be at all interested in her graceless actions and instead looked took a pamphlet from the counter. "Kimby right? Hi."

"Yeah, so what can I for you-no, what can I do for you?"

Haru looked at Kimby curiously, but soon got the gist of what she asked. "Well, I was bored so my brother told me to go explore town. Then I saw this place. Do you work here or?"

Kimby straightened, happy that the conversation was directed at something she could answer with ease. "My dad runs the place, actually. I'm just covering for someone on maternity leave—it's not permanent."

It was at that point in time that Haru looked directly at her, his eyes faltering from the pamphlet and onto her face. Kimby could feel her hands involuntarily move to her hair. She was being weird. Really weird. But like, who could blame her? There was an insanely hot guy in front of her, staring at her and asking questions. This went deeper than her fear of social situations; it was like she was a star struck fan or girlfriend of his—which she obviously wasn't.

"Wanna give me a tour?" Haru asked as their eyes met.

Kimby swallowed hard, forcing herself to get a grip. "I can…just let me get my dad to cover the desk."

In about a minute, Kimby had her father down at reception, sitting calmly at the desk. She didn't really do much explaining as to who Haru was, keeping it completely anonymous. She said that he was just someone new in town that wanted to be shown around. Kimby's dad was incredibly excited and took over in a flash. And then the two of them were off in the nearest exhibit.

Kimby was happy to be walking around in the museum once again. She gave into explaining the first plaque they saw, then let Haru walk free around the room. He combed through the room and began reading a piece of parchment from the new letter display. Oh how her father would be proud.

While Haru's eyes were scanning the letter, he spoke. "So why do you want to work here?"

Kimby walked towards him. "Well, I don't know. It was familiar. And I like it here, I guess." Kimby smiled widely at her first thoughts of working here.

"Doesn't it get boring? It's all the same." Haru's eyes met hers.

"Not really, the letter display that you're reading is new. But yes, I get bored all the time—but that's only because I am at the reception desk all day. I rarely get to walk around like this anymore."

"That sucks."

"So has your Uncle…Leon? Has he finished moving into the dojo yet?" Kimby asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Yeah, Natsu and I took the last of his things to him a few days ago."

"That's good. Do you guys live somewhere else?"

"My brother and I live together, my Uncle decided to stay on the upper floor of the dojo. We live around that weird lake in the middle of nowhere."

"Oh! I know where that is. I have a friend that lives a few miles from there. His name is Sumo."

"Sumo's a pretty weird name, to be honest."

Kimby shrugged. "It's actually just a nickname. So do you take classes at Leon's Karate dojo? Or did you?"

"Yeah, I'm a black belt already. But it's only for fun."

"That's actually super cool; do you want to go to the next exhibit?"

Haru nodded and Kimby took him past several counters and into a separate room. Once there, Kimby explained a few things and then left him to explore once again.

"So besides Sumo, who else am I going to meet?" Haru asked out of the blue.

Kimby considered it for a second. "Well, I don't really know. There are a bunch of us—but I only talk to and know a few people."

"And they are?"

Kimby counted them on her fingers. "A short list would be Courtlin, Sumo, Clarence, Jeff, Belson…Chelsea and Malessica."

Haru visibly cringed at the thought of Chelsea and Malessica. "Those two," he said.

Kimby laughed. "Yeah, they can be a bit…weird. And hard to handle."

"Oh, sorry. They're your friends. I shouldn't have—"

"No, I completely get it. They were checking you out shamelessly. It's okay to feel uncomfortable," Kimby said.

"Who do you think I'll get along with the most?"

Kimby shrugged. "I don't know, maybe you and Sumo will hit it off. Belson doesn't like anyone but Clarence, so I doubt that you guys will have more than a five minute conversation. Maybe Jeff or Clarence will like you?"

"Can't say for sure?"

"Well, I don't know you that well yet, so I can't fairly judge."

Haru nodded after a bit. "True."

"Regardless, I'm pretty sure that everyone will like you, you're pretty much ten-out-of-ten." Kimby said, realizing too late that she said it out loud.

Haru looked over at Kimby, surprise lighting up his features.

Kimby started walking past him, towards the door that led into the lobby. "Okay, I think that's the end of the tour. Let's head back to the door," Kimby said nervously.

Haru followed her protesting that there had to be more to the museum than two rooms. Kimby ignored each attempt he made and pushed on towards the front doors. When they got to the lobby, Haru stopped his protests and followed directly behind her. When they reached the reception desk she halted. Her father was gone. He must have taken a bathroom break.

Kimby forced her mouth to curve into a smile. "And that concludes the tour of the Aberdale History Museum, do you have any questions?"

"Yeah, why didn't we finish the tour? Was it because of what you—"

Kimby started speaking louder, so her voice could cover Haru's. "No? Okay, great. Please come again. Once again, I am your tour guide Kimby, and will be here for you when you arrive next time."

With a disgruntled face, Haru left the museum.

Kimby felt sick as she sat down at the reception desk. Great. Nice going. Grade A work you've done there. Kimby was kind of disgusted that she made a fool of herself in front of Haru again. It was becoming a phenomenon at this point. And the way he left made her feel even worse. She did a really crappy job as a tour guide. On the upside though, that probably meant that he wasn't going to come by again. God, Kimby hoped that that was the case. Not that Haru was a bad guy; she just couldn't trust herself around him. She was definitely going to ruin their already non-existent relationship at this point.

After a few minutes, Kimby saw her father applying hand sanitizer to himself. An after-bathroom ritual he had begun in high school. Her mother always commented on it, describing it as annoying. But that was just because she had to deal with the smell most often afterwards. Kimby sat up quickly, making sure not to let her father know that she had completely ruined someone's museum experience and simultaneously ruined a potential friendship with him. She spoke in a calm, even voice.

"Hey dad," Kimby greeted him.

"Hey honey," he looked around. "Is the tour finished or is he just wandering around by himself now?"

"He left a little bit ago. He had to leave really quickly," she lied.

"I see. Anyway, I'll be going back to my office now, have fun."

"I'll try," Kimby said, her chin falling on her palm as he walked behind her.

* * *

 **I'll see you guys whenever I update again. Tune in next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I haven't updated this in a very long time. Oops. Anyway, here is the latest chapter. Have fun reading!**

* * *

It seemed like summer was passing by faster than it usually did. It felt like it was only a week ago that Kimby started working for her father at the museum. It was already the tail end of August and school was starting in the next few days. Kimby's latest days off had been occupied by her mother taking her clothes shopping in the next town over. And she wasn't even finished yet. The two of them still had to hit up the local Staples to get school supplies.

Kimby sighed as she doodled absent-mindedly in the margins of her word find. Three months and she could count how many times she hung out with her friends on her hands. Everyone was too preoccupied doing their own things. Chelsea in particular was going to the skate park constantly to hang out with Sumo. Malessica was reading like, an entire book store. Courtlin was in Florida visiting her grandparents for the last two months. Even Ashley was working at McDonalds to have a rainy day fund. The only upside to this month was that Suzanne brought her new baby in to visit. Kimby smiled at the thought of Suzanne walking through the door with a three month old.

"Mornin' Kimby," Suzanne said, sweeping through the door like she had a million times before. Only this time she was extra careful with the cargo she had cradled in her left arm.

"Oh, my God," Kimby stood straight up from where she was sitting, her magazine falling to the floor. She rushed towards Suzanne, where her baby was gurgling and sucking on their fingers.

"We were going to the grocery store, but I wanted to stop in. This is Kamden, say 'hi', Kamden." Suzanne picked up his chubby arm and waved to Kimby.

"Hi, Kamden. I'm Kimby," Kimby whispered excitedly.

"So where is your father?"

"He's in his office. I'll call him in." And with that, Kimby walked towards the phone and in just a few seconds, her father came barreling towards the lobby.

"Suzanne!" He announced a little too loudly. "Oh, sorry," he said. Then a little quieter he added, "Is that little Kamden?"

"Yes, want to hold him?"

"Absolutely," he said.

Suzanne shoved Kamden into his arms and he started to fuss a little.

"Hey, don't you fuss for your Uncle Barry," he said with a wide smile.

Kamden quieted down for a bit, twisting his head back to look at Suzanne.

"He's so cute, look at these chubby arms. I remember when you were this small kiddo," Barry reminisced as he looked towards Kimby.

"I want to hold him next," Kimby bounced on the balls of her feet in anticipation.

"As if, you're gonna have to pry him from my cold, dead arms."

"Dad!" Kimby whispered harshly.

"I hope you both know that I need him back eventually."

"Yeah, okay. Here K-baby," Barry said as he handed him to Kimby.

"So how have things been here at the museum?"

"Everything is just how you left it. Besides a few new exhibits. Kimby has been doing an exceptional job—but she's no you."

"Ha ha, I bet."

"How are you and Micah? Kamden has got to be giving your sleeping schedule a run for its money."

"The first month had me and the boyfriend at each other's throats. That postpartum had me for a while."

Barry nodded, "I totally understand. Jane and I," instead of continuing, he just shook his head.

"Micah is super helpful though, kind of makes me sad that I didn't think he was ready."

"Oh, no. I wasn't ready to be a father until the nurse handed me Kimby. And that was with the umbilical cord still attached."

"Ew, dad," Kimby chimed in, a fussy Kamden pulling at her hair.

"I know that look," Suzanne brought her hands up to Kamden, who leaned into them. "I've gotta go before he gets too fussy for the grocery store. No one likes a crying baby."

"Alright, if you and Micah need it, Kimby can babysit."

"I definitely can," Kimby said, waving at Kamden.

"Okay, bye. Kamden say 'bye'."

Kamden seemed to drool and mumble at his mother instead of saying goodbye.

And that was the last time Kimby had fun this summer. She hadn't even seen Haru, who she thought would have showed up for another tour. Apparently her embarrassing scene last time was enough for him. Not that she blamed him; she was incredibly weird around him. Regardless, her shift was almost done and that meant that she could hang out with her mom. Again. Not that it was bad or anything—but it was bad.

* * *

It was another bright Monday morning when Kimby walked into the homeroom room she was assigned this year. She double checked and triple checked as she waited for the bus this morning. Her first period class was with Ms. Clarke for Algebra II, and Kimby had the pleasure of already knowing her. She had study hall with Ms. Clarke back in freshman year. She was super nice and treated study hall like a free period. She didn't force anyone to read or do homework. Even if you wanted to nap, she let you catch a few Z's. Although, the rules of her study hall might have changed due to Belson bringing both a pillow and blanket to class one day. Regardless, a few of Kimby's upperclassman friends had told stories of her hilarious tangents and feminist beliefs. She was very interested in starting class with her.

As she walked into the room, she was surrounded by Chelsea and Malessica immediately.

"Hey, K!" Malessica shouted as she hugged Kimby.

"Hey losers. What other classes do we have together?" Kimby asked.

The girls compared their schedules and turned up short. The three of them had only two classes together. Feeling cheated the three of them pouted.

"What the hell? We got stiffed." Chelsea complained.

"Yeah, how am I going to copy your homework if you aren't in my class," Kimby said.

Malessica shook her head but then looked towards the door abruptly. She bounced up.

"Good morning, Haru!"

Kimby and Chelsea both turned their heads. When Kimby's eyes connected with the slouching form of Haru, she cringed. It had been months since she last saw Haru and his sudden appearance in the doorway brought back all of the nauseating memories of their museum tour. It had been so embarrassing Kimby hadn't even told her friends about it. Chelsea would just make fun of her and Malessica would go crazy trying to figure out all of the non-existent juicy details.

Haru waved awkwardly and Kimby remembered that she knew why.

Pushing everything that happened to the back of her mind, she forced a smile as Chelsea signaled him over.

"What classes you got?" Chelsea asked in her usual pushy tone.

"Algebra II, Science, History, English, Lunch, Gym…some random electives," Haru ran through the list smoothly, like he'd memorized it ages ago.

Kimby blinked once she realized that they had three classes together. She thought that she should mention it but once she saw Chelsea's reaction to only having one class with him, she closed her mouth extra tight. It seemed that Malessica and Haru both noticed this and swiped her schedule.

"Kimby's got three classes with him," Malessica announced, laughing. Kimby swore she heard the word "score" come out of her mouth next.

"That's just not fair," Chelsea huffed.

Kimby took her schedule back, giving Malessica a deathly stare.

"I guess we'll just have to suffer," Malessica said.

"Good morning, everyone!"

Everyone's attention was brought to the front of the room where Clarence had rushed in. Sumo and Jeff were tagging along far behind him. The two of them seemed to be in an in-depth conversation about a TV show the two of them watch.

"Hey Kimby, Chelsea, Malessica," Clarence greeted each of them, raising an eyebrow in a gentlemanly way.

"'Sup, Clarence?" Chelsea asked, leaning against a desk.

"Nothin', anyway, who's the new kid?" Clarence gestured towards Haru.

"This is Haru. He moved here just at the start of summer."

Clarence smiled widely, shoving his hand towards Haru's for a friendly handshake. When he and Haru's palms touched, Haru was astonished at the powerful grip that seemed to overtake his hand. Haru replied by adding pressure to Clarence's hand.

"Ah yes, very firm. So where are you fr—Belson!"

And just like that, Clarence was shoving Haru out of the way, breaking through Jeff and Sumo's connection and bothering Belson.

Kimby watched as Haru's face flickered through disbelief to curiosity.

"We don't know either. Clarence is always hanging out with him though."

Haru continued to watch as Belson kept Clarence at an arm's length away. "Hello, Clarence," Belson greeted.

"Good morning, guys," Malessica greeted Sumo and Jeff as they joined the circle.

Chelsea crossed her arms awkwardly and hid her face.

"Morning," Jeff said. "Your name is Haru, right?"

Haru nodded, giving Jeff a once over. He was dressed nicely—khakis and a button down kind of nice. Haru then looked at Sumo. At first he was intimidated—Sumo looked like one of those stereotypical bad boys. His hair was shaved and he had his ears pierced with plugs.

"What's up?" Sumo asked, noticing that Haru was staring.

"Nothing, hi."

"So, why did you move to Aberdale?" Jeff asked, elbowing Sumo slightly.

Haru was uncomfortable talking in front of so many different people but he tried to seem relaxed. "Um, I got kicked out of my old school. Louis Beckham High," Haru said.

"In California?" Jeff announced excitedly.

"Great, you've piqued his interest," Sumo griped.

"Oh shush, Sumo. I bet it was amazing. The campus alone is sparkling."

"I don't know, the students there were a bunch of snobs."

"Oh I bet, but did you ever notice the trees? Louis Beckham is supposed to have exactly four hundred and thirty-seven trees—and that's just surrounding the dorms!"

Haru raised an eyebrow, finally realizing why Sumo was so against Jeff getting excited. "I didn't know that. They were just regular trees to me."

"Oh yeah, so what kind of curriculum did you have there? Was it vigorous? What were the standardized tests like?"

"Oh, my God, Jeff. Shut up," Sumo yelled. He then put his hands over Jeff's mouth.

"Thank you," Kimby laughed.

"Okay, you'll have to talk to me later about it. Hey, Sumo! Ouch! Let g—

And with that, Sumo dragged Jeff to the other corner of the room so they could sit next to each other. It looked like Clarence also got bored of being ignored by Belson and waddled over to the two of them. Belson was sitting all the way in the back, his goons flanking either side of him as they took up the corner.

"Hopefully they didn't weird you out too much," Kimby said. "They aren't that bad." Kimby then realized that she was in no position to say that about the others. Not with the tour she gave Haru.

"It's nothing I haven't already gone through," Haru said, making pointed glances at her.

Kimby blushed and turned towards Malessica and Chelsea who were busy talking about something Sumo-oriented.

"Alright everyone, sit down. I'm gonna hand out a syllabus!" Ms. Clarke announced.

Everyone found somewhere to sit, Kimby sliding into the desk in the second row. Haru was in front of her, Chelsea was to her right and Malessica was to her back.

And then everything went smoothly from there.

* * *

It wasn't until Kimby walked into History that she saw Haru again. He was sitting in the back of the room, face hidden in a science syllabus. She walked past everyone to sit in the desk in front of him.

"Mr. Hughes assigns seats, so I hope you don't get attached to that desk," she said, trying to seem cool.

"Really? So does Karcovsky."

"Chemistry? That is way too much math for the morning." Kimby groaned.

"Math is like my favorite subject though."

Kimby laughed. "Any subject would be your favorite subject, nerd." Kimby said playfully.

Haru raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. "Yeah, I guess. What's yours?"

"Don't yell at me for being predictable, but it's gym. I put it on my schedule for the last two years."

Haru laughed and Kimby smiled. "Wow."

"But you do Karate so you probably don't like gym."

"No, not really. Aside from basketball, I don't really like anything else that you play in gym."

"Not even dodge ball? Everyone likes dodge ball here. It's like the crack of physical activities."

"Do you like it?"

"Well, I'm naturally competitive so I would kick major ass," Kimby mused.

"Yeah, okay. Sure," Haru said sarcastically.

"I'm serious. We have gym together. You'll see my skills eventually."

"Alright, fine."

And then class started.

* * *

Gym came around after Lunch and Kimby hurried down to the gymnasium. She met Haru halfway there, as he went to his locker after being dismissed from the cafeteria first. Kimby's lunch table was always too noisy so they were told to leave last. She poked his back instead of saying his name and they walked the rest of the way together.

During class there was nothing going on but syllabus stuff. They had to bring in a set of gym clothes—a regular T-shirt and shorts or athletic pants. Kimby was insanely bored, not being one for sitting around and doing nothing but listening. The gym teachers got through their spiel quickly enough and set everyone free to shoot some hoops.

The two of them left the bleachers together, Haru running ahead and grabbing a basketball. The two of them passed to each other for a while but eventually they started stealing from each other.

Haru dribbled the ball between his hands, pivoting away from Kimby as she came up on him. With one quick move, Kimby stole the ball and advanced to the other side of the court. She didn't shoot as another group was using the hoop she was near but she did jump and toss the ball up. Haru caught up to her and snatched the ball from her before she could catch it.

"Hey," she called as Haru left with the ball.

Kimby chased him until he set up for a three point shot and made it in.

"Alright, well I can't beat you in basketball so you'll have to wait for bowling."

"As if, my little sisters and I went bowling every year for my uncle's birthday. I'll destroy you."

"Yeah, well my mom was a crazy bowler before her carpal tunnel started acting up. My skills are genetic."

"Fine, I guess we'll see." Haru said.

Then he went to get the basketball that had bounced towards the far wall.

Kimby thought that meeting Haru again would be the worst thing to happen to her but it was actually really cool. Despite the fact that she got slaughtered in around the world, she had a great time in gym. Things were going really well right now and Kimby made sure to tell her mom all about it on her way home that night. Since she got in the car, Kimby couldn't stop talking about how much she missed everyone and how great her teachers were and especially how cool Haru was. Her mother even accused Kimby of having a crush on him, but she pushed that thought out of her mother's head really fast. Although Haru was like, insanely smart—like, annoyingly so, she was very proud to know him. And that was the extent of her feelings towards him. There was no way romance was involved in her admiration of him. All Kimby could say was that she was really excited for school each day that week. And she would continue to be excited for school.

* * *

 **I have no idea when I'll be updating next but that's okay because it will happen. See you then!**


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